Have you ever taken something and not read the label? I have, in fact I did that the other day. I wanted to start taking vitamin C. So I bought Kirkland a brand that I use to trust. Then I was sitting at my desk and had the thought to read the label. So I read the label. Read for yourself below. In fact go to the link below and read it for yourself. Have you ever thought how did they color them orange? I didn’t know they used Yellow #6 & Red #40.

Hidden Risks of Food Dyes

The three most widely used culprits—Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Red 40—contain compounds, including benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl, that research has linked with cancer. Research has also associated food dyes with problems in children including allergies, hyperactivity, learning impairment, irritability and aggressiveness.

I realized that my body is what I eat. My diet was if it tasted good and fit into my mouth I ate it and my seasoning was salt. So I went to my doctor and said “doctor doctor Mr Md” can you help me please. So he said sure. So we talked and he stuck a needle in my arm sucked out some blood and sent it off to the lab and said come back in a week.

He then sent me to a nutritionist that helped diabetics with their diets. She told me about calories, fats, carbs and protein then told me how many calories to eat. I thought immediately I will starve. Those are appetizer portions. Then she said read the label and I said what’s that. She rolled her eyes and I am sure she thought are you serious. NOT REALLY SHE WAS A VERY NICE, HELPFUL AND PATIENT. I DID MENTION PATIENT RIGHT. So she showed where the label is and what to look for. That got me started. Then I started to educate myself. About my diet and the food I eat.

In that time of research I came across micro greens. I have grown iceberg and mixed lettuce. As well as other vegetable and row crops. I started to grow some for myself and I let Allison try some so she started growing them for herself. We both liked them to eat and juice them.

We then started to share them with others to try. The majority of people liked them and wanted more. So we have been increasing production and making them available to more and more people.

We realized that micro greens are not that available and most of the ones that are available are not fresh, the quality that we would eat or the price is too high.

They are nutritional and easy to digest. We feed the soil what it needs to feed the micro greens so they can feed you what you need. If it has the Quandt Farms “Q” on the Label you know its “Quandt Farms Quality

Californians will pay more to own and drive vehicles starting November 1, 2017. With the excise tax on gas going up $.12 on gasoline, $.20 diesel and an extra 4% sales tax on diesel. Electric vehicles will pay a $100 annual fee, starting in 2020. Then January 1, 2018 the new Transportation Improvement fee will be $25 to $175 per vehicle. The $52.4 billions over ten years will be used for road maintenance.

There will be an additional benefit for road maintenance of fewer vehicles on the road and less miles being driven. Then there is the fewer miles being driven because of people leaving California and fewer people coming to California.

What is the ripple affect for California Agriculture? Farmers are high mileage drivers just by the nature of the business. Then there is the cost to those who work on farms. Most of them drive more and farther to get to work. They will need to be compensated for the additional cost or that maybe the tipping point. To cause them to work else where or be in a position to need help.

I am bias but the reality is no one produces food on the scale that it is produced by California Farmers. Then there is the addition cost to all those who service California Ag. We might also want to consider the transportation cost of farm products, including transporting the finished product to the grocery store and restaurant.

For those in the rest of the nation don’t think that this won’t affect you. California Farmers help feed you. What will the extra cost of a cantaloupe shipped from Mendota or a head of lettuce shipped from Salinas be? I could go on.

Could this be part of the tipping point for the cost of food? Don’t count the California Farmer out just yet. They are an innovative and a creative bunch. I believe they will figure out ways to do it better. My money is on the California Farmer.

They have been on the verge of extinction all my life. But they always seem to keep farming and producing the safest and best food in the world. They are the most optimistic pessimist, that I know.

Why are they such pessimist? They have to plan for every problem and every potential problem known. Plus the ones that don’t yet exist. This is why they are such a optimistic bunch. They know they will figure it out and survive to farm another crop.

I though how cool that she is sharing her story and giving hope to others. Then I read her “More Detail”. This story really affected me. We never know what someone is going through and we can have opinions. Most of which we should keep to ourselves.

Now I feel like the flea in the frying pan, because of her transparency and willingness to share. I have so struggled with opening up to others. Doing so on social media is beyond my comprehension. Most of social media is superficial nonsense at best and that is OK.

But that isn’t why I am doing this. I want to make a difference. Maybe I can give someone a starting point to change their life. My passion is the production of quality produce and is now becoming the awareness of what they eat on social media. The story that most don’t know or really understand.

Now thanks to Becca, I am struggling with the idea of sharing some of the dark times that I have had. I am so thankful for those times that different people took the time to be nice to me, encourage me and help me. Then there were those who loved to see me in that dark place and wanted to extinguish what little light I had.

My biggest supporter has been my wife and best friend Lori. I am so thankful and appreciate her. Before my marriage to her the bright spots in those random dark times were few and far between. My fail safe has always been my faith in God through Jesus my Lord.

When I was a kid we had a gas station and sold batteries. The batteries had no acid in them, so we would add the sulfuric acid. The concrete where acid had spilled was ate up. The other experience with acid was using it to lower the pH in alkaline soil. I was of the mind that more is better. That was not the case. Using too much acid would free up other things that could make the soil toxic to the crop. We tested the soil and the water. The calculations were made and the result was yields never before achieved. Another note on using the acid was that we had to use the correct tanks and plumbing or the acid would eat them up.

I am not sure of the benefits of drinking acidic drinks. But I do know that isn’t good for the teeth. The second part of my problem with this is. What is your beginning PH and what is your target PH. You could check your pH by using a pH meter or strip. I would check saliva and urine. Going in and coming out. Not scientific but as a farmer I check the PH of soil and water. Other considerations would be the PH of your drinking water and your food. Especially sodas and juices.

If you want your digestive tract working. Eat live, healthy foods. That is another blog. For now keep your teeth, they don’t grow back. But they can last a long time with proper maintenance and diet.

When I was researching how vegetable oil is processed. I discovered they use the petroleum solvent hexane to help get more oil from the seed. Then boil the solvent off. What if they don’t don’t boil all the solvent off and what happens when you put the solvent into the mix. Does it make a new brew. To make you glow in the dark.

Don’t think of just your own cooking with oil, but what about those french fries? What were the herbicides used to go the seed source to make the oil?

What about pesticide and any fungicides? Then there is the whole genetic engineering of the seed (gmo). I know everyone is on the gmo thing, don’t forget the process.

Since I am on a roll. What is in the water the crop is grown with and don’t forget the soil. There is a lot to all this stuff. Don’t get hung up on one thing.

Grow your own or at least grow something. Or have a grower, grow your own for you. Just a thought.